Is the time right for asynchronous collaboration?

When Evernote, the note-taking software that was at one point synonymous with workplace and personal productivity, was at the peak of its corporate powers, co-founder Phil Libin was a devoted champion of in-person work.

“I thought that the shared environment was really important. And I think the mistake I was making was, well I was underestimating the cost… I think I was also overly fixated on the physical location as the environment.”

By “cost”, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Libin was speaking about the physical cost of a building – a common reason given for shifting to a remote and asynchronous model. In fact, Libin was talking about the very real toll of a lengthy average commute for Evernote employees at the time.

“I’m never going to ask someone to do that again. I’m never going to ask an employee to give up three hours every single day to sit in traffic.”

However, that’s exactly what many companies, such as Amazon Dellare asking employees to do: return to the office, come hell or high water.

Libin and his latest company, video meeting and presentation firm Mmhmm, shares a home city with Walmart: Bentonville, Arkansas. Walmart has seen C-level executives quit since a return to office (RTO) directive was handed down. Libin says that it’s important to identify whether your company truly needs synchronous work to be successful.

Asynchronous work models see workers given the freedom to complete work in their own time, outside of the normal boundaries of the working day. It can be ideal for globally distributed workforces working across time zones, or for employees working fully remotely who maintain a strong work ethic on their own schedule.

While asynchronous work isn’t as widespread as remote work – Remote’s 2024 Global Workforce Report found just 16% of hiring leaders

For Walmart, which is building a reportedly $1 billion-plus campus, an in-office synchronous model might work best. For his company, working asynchronously and remotely means being focused and communicating effectively.

For Walmart, where it’s building a reportedly $1 billion-plus campus, that might work. For his company, working asynchronously and remotely means being focused and communicating effectively.

“Being remote and being asynchronous isn’t a poor substitute for being in person. If your company thinks that it’s a poor substitute, then it becomes a poor substitute and it doesn’t work. I don’t expect instant communication. If I need it, if something’s an emergency, then sure that’s different, but that has to be a real emergency.

“There’s very, very, very few by definition. If everything’s an emergency then that’s a failure of management.”

Libin visualizes communications into a pyramid that includes recorded video at the base, live video in the middle, and in–person as the smallest top chunk. He believes it’s important for companies to identify and implement different strategies where they are most appropriate.

For example, he suggests recorded video – which is not dependent on strict schedules – is best for explanations while live video is better for decision-making. Gone, for him, are the days of 100-person all hands held in-person within shiny office buildings, which opens the door to more asynchronous work.

“Fewer meetings make better meetings, make fewer meetings,” he says.

For other companies like the observability platform provider Chronosphere, some version of remote work has been their foundation long before it was accepted. Ashley Alexander is the chief people officer at the company and says starting from a baseline of being asynchronous means that you have to see it as not just a cost-cutting measure.

“I think you can’t be remote with the mindset that you’re doing it just to save costs. Because you need to spend money still on investing in making remote work successful.”

Alexander says that one of the struggles she’s seen companies face is a lack of belief that their employees can be successful and meet expectations in a digital world.

For business leaders that means leaning into trust, giving employees broad latitude to travel and meet with their teams while also having a structure that allows them to access WeWork locations should they want or need an in-office style environment. Alexander says that this trust is foundational to a good working environment and that the excitement of the company’s leaders about the future of remote work was part of what drew her to the role.

“I think we have a grand sort of tension between companies believing and trusting that their employees can actually produce well from remote environments, and companies being told or believing that you have to be in person to be successful. “

Some companies, like Spotify, have doubled down on their trust in employees to get their work done without mandated schedules. The same principle, applied to asynchronous work, could enhance worker trust and further strengthen the argument for practices such as a four-day week.

The challenges of remote and asynchronous work

None of this means that remote-first companies are all sunshine, rainbows, and joyous team retreats. Alexander says that one challenge for remote companies is making sure that their employees aren’t faced with tool sprawl, with each department wanting its own internal options, causing bloat and extra stress.

Regardless of how a tech company implements an asynchronous environment, she says it’s important to acknowledge that a lot of these return-to-office choices are informed by market forces and leaders’ reactions to them.

“I think that there’s fear in the world right now, and these CEOs, from my perspective, are pulling every lever possible that might work and be helpful for them to move their business forward. And so I get that, and I have no judgment for companies that are like, ‘You know what? We’ve got to try it all.’”

At the same time, there are companies who feel as if discussions about how to balance in office and remote roles can bring the sector forward. Carolyn Walker, the global human resources director at talent as a service provider Tenth Revolution Group, says that being thoughtful about how to balance the wants and needs of your workforce is vital when it comes to sorting through how to orient your business’ workflows.

“In terms of tech, it’s an industry that is not only in the midst of a potentially damaging skills gap, but has also traditionally struggled when it comes to diversity and inclusion. With that in mind, closing the door on any professionals seems counter-productive and our own research suggests it will make it more difficult for businesses to hire the tech professionals they need.”

Walker says that part of that equation is being clear with prospective employees about the expectations of the role and its location from the jump.

“Be open with them from the beginning,” she says. “You may have an approach where you’re all remote but want to foster close working relationships, or you may be entirely asynchronous, but without being clear on what’s expected of someone you’re both always going to be taking a gamble.

“Someone not fitting in with the way you work doesn’t make either of you right or wrong, it just makes you a bad match and that’s absolutely fine.”

Like any other form of business transformation, it’s clear that navigating the where and when of work in the sector is an ongoing process that stretches on the scale of years and decades rather than weeks and months. Or, as Libin puts it:

“At first I was very, against working from home, years ago. And then I think I went a little bit overboard, and I’m like ‘No, it’s really dumb to gather people back in the office, unless you have a really good physical reason to do it.

“And now, actually, I think I’ve kind of landed in a different place, which is: it’s fine, both can be fine, you just have to be very intentional about it, and you have to commit.”

Ultimately, it seems no amount of return-to-office discourse is going to stop some employees and employers from exploring asynchronous and remote work. Leaders must assess the pros and cons of asynchronous work for their own office culture and be willing to act dynamically to meet the needs of their workforce.